Terumah: A Jewish Heart

Last Shabbos, I was up early and saying brachos at home. I suddenly heard an explosion-like thump. Enough to make me stop and wonder what just happened. Turns out an F-16 went down around that time.

Now, all week, we’re hearing low-flying F-16s.

Pretty cool.

As long as it stays cool J

“…from every man whose heart will motivate him you shall take My portion” (Shemos 25:2).

My wife knows a Rebbetzin who's gone through . . . quite a bit. She was born and raised in Israel, has been through several wars, including being behind Syrian lines during one of them, and is one of those people who stories always happen to.

She recently said in a class that when she was younger and living in the Golan Heights, they had an old woman as a neighbor. She wasn’t religious, but very Zionistic. She would often sit on the front porch of this neighbor and hear her stories and talk with her. One of the things the woman would always say is how she’s a proud Zionist and those who call themselves Zionists, but live outside of Israel, are nothing but fakers.

Just recently, this woman passed away at the age of 102. The Rebbetzin felt that she should go to the funeral, and headed north to attend. She was in for a shock when she got there and found the funeral was full of former Prime Ministers and heads of Mossad and Army Intelligence (of course she knows who they are . . . the army sends her to "hot zones" to help calm down civilians). She was obviously trying to figure out why so many big shots were there. It turned out that this old woman was some big time Mossad agent, back in the day.

She said to her class that she never likes hearing from secular Jews, “I have a Jewish heart,” or “I have a Jewish soul,” as if that’s all there is to being Jewish. It’s not, and it’s only a “cop-out” from actually having to do mitzvos. We don’t just have “Jewish hearts.” Being Jewish means . . . BEING Jewish . . . LIVING as a Jew.

She explained that when a Jew works on internal values, in the end, there will always be action involved. If, for example, a person is working on faith in Hashem, in the end, they might have better davening or feel more calmer in troubled times, etc.

This woman believed in Zionism. It was something that was extremely important to her. To the point that if you believe something, you need to act on it. And she did. She moved here from outside of Israel and lived her life here. And why did she scorn “Zionists” living abroad? Because she understood that if you BELIEVE something, you should ACT on it.

But it goes even deeper.

Older people tend to ramble on about stories (especially glorious ones) about their past. Yet, not once did this woman give any hint to her “secret identity.” She truly believed in her beliefs, and THAT led to action, by keeping quiet after so many years.

When a Jew has a “Jewish heart,” that means there will be action to follow.